Duane Dudek | On Film

Not enough thought put into 'Crystal Skull'

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have created some of the best and most memorable films ever made.

So, pardon me for asking, what have they done for us lately?

Lucas' "Star Wars" prequels were uninspired cash cows, and Spielberg's dark, box-office letdown "Munich" and mechanical "War of the Worlds" were released three years ago. Film magic is a combination of imagination, ambition and luck, all of which have become stunted by Lucas and Spielberg's embarrassment of riches. It's no coincidence that the latest crop of blockbusters and fantasy films are being directed by the kind of up-and-comers Spielberg and Lucas once were.

And so it is disappointing, but no real surprise, that the listless "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" opening in theaters Thursday - directed by Spielberg, from a story by executive producer Lucas and screenplay by Pewaukee native David Koepp - feels born of the opportunity to make it and devoid of any reason to do so.

This exhausting hodgepodge of expository dialogue, chase scenes and series-based mythology feels less predictable than inevitable. »Read Full Article

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